Otisville physical education teacher Stephanie Giufre has been taking her fourth and fifth-grade students outdoors for snowshoeing fun during their physical education class. They’re getting a great workout!
Snowshoeing is a winter activity that involves walking on snow with the aid of snowshoes, which are a type of footwear that distribute body weight over a larger area, which helps prevent sinking into the snow.
DID YOU KNOW
There are great health benefits to snowshoeing:
•Exceptional cardiovascular workout – you can burn up to 1,000 calories per hour!
•Low-impact muscle building.
•Endurance building.
•Balance strengthening and agility.
•Improves your sense of well-being by connecting to nature
It’s time for volleyball for Anthony Licata’s IS fourth-grade students! They’re not ready to play with a net just yet, as they need to learn the fundamentals of the game first. Take a peek at his students learning how to “bump” the volleyball! They’re picking up this new sport really quickly, too!
The ”bump” is a basic volleyball pass that uses the forearms to move the ball to a teammate or over the net. It's also known as a forearm pass or dig.
Erin Chase’s ES first-graders are learning about how the Mayans used observatories to look at the sky! As part of their discussion, her little students practiced writing in complete sentences and drew a photo of a Mayan observatory.
The Maya built observatories so that they could examine the nighttime sky to track Earth's journey around the sun, which led to the development of their calendar.
Studying the Maya civilization in first-grade introduces young students to a fascinating ancient culture, exposing them to concepts like different writing systems (hieroglyphics), basic astronomy through their calendar system, and the idea of complex societies with impressive architecture.
Library classes are always the best --- students can take out books and bring them home to read either solo or with a family member! It’s even better when you can take a book that was read to you in class and then use Play-Doh to create your own animal tracks!
That’s what Mia McLean’s ES kindergarten library students had the chance to do! She read them Mia Posada’s “Who Was Here? Discovering Wild Animal Tracks.” The book focuses on the footprints of wild animals from all around the world. For each animal, there's a rhyming verse, followed by the refrain "Who was here?" along with a life-size footprint on the appropriate terrain.
Afterward, students were given cans of Play-Doh so they could create their animal track of choice! A bear, by far, were the most popular animal track choice, followed by a kangaroo! What a great way of connecting a story with some fine motor skill work! Take a peek at these adorable little students proudly showing off their creations!
The Intermediate School’s Kindness Ambassadors were recently “on the road” to visit the Elementary School’s students! Every year to wrap up Kindness Week, these ambassadors visit the younger students to present a lesson on kindness followed by an activity.
During their recent visit, the ambassadors presented a recorded read aloud of Trudy Ludwig’s “The Power of One.” Her book tells the story that when one child reaches out in friendship to a classmate who seems lonely, she begins a chain reaction of kindness that ripples throughout her school and her community. One kind act begets another, small good deeds make way for bigger ones, and eventually the whole neighborhood comes together to build something much greater than the sum of its parts.
Their recording was made possible through the kindness of Kat Hoolan’s High School “Media Production” students, who took the ambassadors’ recording and created a more polished video of the book for them to use. 👏👏THANK YOU👏👏 to everyone who played a role in this visit’s success!
DID YOU KNOW
The IS kindness ambassadors are a before-school enrichment program for students who want to spread kindness. Ambassadors are involved in many things throughout the school year, including preparing hygiene kits around the holidays for needy families, creating artwork for the building and serving as liaisons to their classrooms to pass along information regarding the current “Valentines for Veterans” drive as well as sharing information about different holidays.
It’s always fun to read a big, oversized book, isn’t it? District kindergarteners, like AnneMarie Guido’s Otisville students, often gather together to do just that!
Mrs. Guido and her students have been reading stories in their CKLA Skills 6 reader called “Kit.” This particular story was called “Kit’s Mom.” (Kit’s mom is really, really, really busy in the morning, by the way!)
In CKLA Skills Unit 6 for kindergarten, a student is expected to be able to read simple decodable texts with CVC (words created using a consonant, vowel and a consonant) words, identify rhyming words, recognize consonant blends, and confidently blend letter sounds to read short words. This is all part of building a strong foundation in phonics skills and having the ability to decode basic text independently, often focusing on high-frequency words and simple sentence structures.
Big books are a crucial component of early childhood literacy curriculum because they allow for interactive shared reading experiences, enabling teachers to explicitly point out and discuss key literacy concepts like print awareness, word boundaries, and vocabulary development with the whole class, all while engaging children with large, easy-to-see text and visuals that support comprehension and participation in the story.
Harlem Wizard John “Big J” Smith visited the Intermediate and Elementary schools and Otisville Elementary today, Feb. 11 to remind students about the upcoming March 12 Harlem Wizards vs. Minisink Valley Faculty/Staff Basketball game!
“Big J,” who stands 6 feet, 8 inches tall, delighted students with his antics and awesome basketball skills as he reminded students the game is a big fundraiser! He’s been a member of the Harlem Wizards since 2011 and in last six years, has played basketball in 25 countries!
Tickets will be on sale soon for the March 12 game! Basketball aficionados will be treated to great skills, teamwork, slick dribbling, alley-oops and crazy slams. The non-hoop fans attending will find out that this is much more than just a basketball game. The night is funny, theatrical, exciting and spectacular and the gym will reverberate with oohs & aahs, laughter, enthusiasm, and much more!
The Harlem Wizards have been dazzling audiences since 1962 and have played many games with members of our faculty and staff over recent years! Watch for tickets and be sure to come out and support the faculty/staff team!
See more photos on the district's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MinisinkValleyCSD
Maria Fenfert’s Otisville fifth-grade trumpeters are practicing new music during in-school lessons! In-school musical instrument lessons like these are important because they provide a range of cognitive, social, and emotional benefits, including improving memory, coordination, self-esteem, creativity, and critical thinking skills. Lessons also foster a sense discipline through ensemble playing.
The trumpet is one of the oldest brass instruments, and has been around for over 1,500
The trumpet holds a central place in the world of jazz. Legendary artists like Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, and Wynton Marsalis significantly influenced the development of jazz and are known for their trumpet mastery. years.
Due to their resonant tones, trumpets have been used for military signals, significant moments and ceremonial purposes for centuries. Military buglers, equipped with trumpets, played crucial roles on the battlefield, as they used specific calls to communicate orders, signal attacks, and announce ceasefires. In ceremonial contexts, the trumpet adds a regal touch to events such as state ceremonies, parades, and formal events
Vincent Napolitano’s High School Earth Science classes are learning about dew points and relative humidity.
As part of their studies, a recent lab tasked them with determining determine the dewpoint and relative humidity of different locations to understand how different conditions can influence weather variables. They undertook testing in their classroom, at high school’s natatorium and outdoors using pool water, a beakers of water, infrared thermometers and strips of paper.
They held paper at each location for two minutes, and used infrared thermometers to record the dry temperature. The same procedure was repeated after dipping the paper into their water source, waving it for a minute and then recording the wet temperature.
Their findings reinforced that in air which has very few water vapor molecules (dry or arid air), evaporation will greatly exceed condensation and cooling will exceed heating. As the amount of water vapor in the air (humidity) increases, more and more condensation occurs and the net energy loss decreases until at saturation, there is no net cooling.
Understanding dew points and relative humidity in Earth Science class is crucial because they are key indicators of the amount of moisture in the air, directly impacting weather patterns like cloud formation, precipitation, fog, and even our perceived comfort levels, making them essential tools for interpreting and predicting weather conditions. These factors help us understand how much water vapor is present in the atmosphere and when it might condense into liquid form, like dew or rain.
It’s the perfect time of year for Lindsey McKernan’s ES kindergarteners to read Maureen Wright’s “Sneezy the Snowman” and follow this story up with a sweet project!
The book tells the story of Sneezy, who was very, very cold from being outside and was looking for a drink to warm himself up. But! After drinking a hot cup of cocoa, he melted! With help from some shaving cream and glue, the students’ follow-up project showed what Sneezy looked like after he melted. And, these little ones also got to practice working on their writing and fine motor skills, too!
Hopefully everyone remembers that Senior amd Varsity Flag Football quarterback Vanessa Tepper was selected by the New York Giants organization as its 2024 "Heart of a Giant" award recipient! As part of her award, the district is receiving a $10,000 grant for its Flag Football Program. And...Vanessa was given a trip and tickets for two to the game! She took her dad, Varsity Flag Football Coach Mike Tepper with her!
We know they had the best time at the game and represented Minisink Valley with distinction!
Physical Education teachers Anthony Pascarelli and Leyla Johnson have been introducing their ES kindergarten students to basketball, and teaching them about the bounce pass and chest pass techniques.
A bounce pass in basketball is a pass where the ball is thrown to the floor and then bounces to a teammate. It's a useful pass when a direct pass might be blocked by a defender. A chest pass in basketball is a pass where the ball is thrown from the chest to another player on the team. It's a fundamental skill that's often used in short or medium distance passes. While they’re not yet working with basketballs, they will as they move up to higher grade levels.
Congratulations and best wishes to the senior members of the Girls Varsity Wrestling Team: Patricia Deslandes, Giavanna Gangi, Shelby Potter and Vanessa Tepper! They were honored for the many contributions to the team’s success during the team’s Feb. 4 Senior Night!
Bryon Imbarrato’s Otisville third-graders have been practicing how to partition whole objects into equal parts when given a fractional unit. It is an important skill they’re getting really good at doing!
Students were given the fractional unit for each station, and then had to partition the object equally to create the equal parts of the whole. They used fraction strips, baking pans, CDs and cups of water to practice this skill.
Learning fractions in third grade is crucial because it lays the foundation for more advanced math concepts like decimals and percentages, enabling students to understand parts of a whole, which is essential for real-life applications and future mathematical success, especially in algebra and beyond; a solid grasp of fractions in third grade can significantly impact their overall math performance later on.
EAGLES OR CHIEFS?
Stephanie Guifre’s Otisville K-5 physical education students prepped for Sunday’s Super Bowl LIX this week by making predictions on who will win...and more! Students seem to be thinking the Eagles will win, though many Taylor Swift student fans are choosing the Chiefs!
This week’s classes had an innovative STEM component tied into them by incorporating math (discussing the math tied to prediction making) and video technology while integrating sports current events, Super Bowl gastronomy, important fitness work and more! Take a look!
First, students talked about making predictions and reasons why people choose as they do. Later, they talked about what football players do to stay physically fit. Students completed an Eagles or Chiefs-related fitness activity related to the Super Bowl: Running in place, sit-ups, push-ups and other exercises.
Finally, they chose between game day food items: Pizza or chicken wings; a Super Bowl party with friends or watching the game at home with family; and mascot preferences! This was a great physical education activity aligned with STEM and current events components!
Joseph Ferara’s ES second-graders, like their peers, have been learning about the life cycles of different species as part of their science lessons in recent weeks.
How cool is this: His students used virtual reality to allow them to interact with each stage of a frog’s life cycle! First, they discussed each life cycle and then explored how that life cycle via Merge Cube technology!
A Merge Cube is a small, foam cube that allows users to hold and interact with 3D digital objects using technology which essentially let his students "touch" and manipulate virtual items like they would real objects. It makes learning more engaging and hands-on and often used to explore topics in science, history and more through interactive 3D models. They loved it! Take a look!
This STEM lesson included having students use Chromebooks, iPads, Google Slides and virtual reality to share what they noticed about each stage of the life cycle!
Andrew Hulle’s fifth-grade clarinet students are learning how to expand the range of pitches that they can play on the clarinet. This work is all part of expanding their music and instrument knowledge during lesson and home practice, as each member of the fifth-grade band becomes more knowledgeable and talented when playing their instrument of choice.
For the Winter Concert, students used only six pitches with their left hands. For the upcoming Spring Concert, these clarinetists will add the use of their right hands, which allows them an additional six pitches. During this recent lesson, students were learning where those pitches are located on the staff and which fingers to press down to play them.
As part of their work, they’re using their knowledge to play Victor Lopez’s “Huracan,” which translates to “hurricane” in English. The piece demonstrates the sounds and feelings of this weather event by utilizing a minor key and the musical range of an entire octave. (Breaking news: This piece will be the first musical work to be played at the Intermediate School Spring Band Concert!)
•The word "clarinet" comes from the Italian word clarino, which means "trumpet".
•The clarinet is a relatively new instrument, invented in the 17th century by Johann Christoph Denner.
•The clarinet has inspired many composers, including Mozart, who wrote several pieces featuring the clarinet.
Nicole Van Pelt’s seventh-grade physical education classes are jumping into their floor hockey unit! Students are ready to learn new skills with their protective goggles and hockey sticks! From stickhandling and passing to teamwork and gameplay, students are developing their abilities while having a blast with their classmates. This unit is all about energy, laughter, and building a love for staying active.
Some believe floor hockey evolved from ice hockey, while others think it evolved from field hockey.
Middle School art teacher Brian Maione’s eighth-grade students have created some beautiful lanterns, and with some tea lights, they will glow brightly! We bet these can become some beautiful gifts!
What a great example of intraschool relationships!
Tara Frawley’s and Kelly Manganiello’s Otisville fifth-graders recently visited Kelly Bernice’s second-graders for a fun buddy reading session!
Buddy reading is a great way to discuss a book together with a friend. Pairing fifth-graders with second-graders is a great way for them to take turns reading to one another. It allows for authentic reading practice and serves a model of fluent reading and comprehension reinforcement. Other important benefits include improved literacy skills, confidence and social skills/connection building and mentorship opportunities in addition to creating more positive attitudes about the importance of reading!
